


The First Fallen

by heartfeltAbomination



Series: Sparing is Caring [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Reader Is Chara, i did say i was going to start from the beginning, nonbinary chara, pre-game, this takes place during chara and asriel's life underground
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-30
Updated: 2018-01-22
Packaged: 2018-11-06 20:58:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11044203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartfeltAbomination/pseuds/heartfeltAbomination
Summary: (i'll try to think of a better name but for now the working title is "The First Fallen")You didn't think you'd survive the fall.But you're so glad you did.





	1. This Isn't Alice in Wonderland

**Author's Note:**

> Wow ok sorry I absolutely trashed that last fic I had going, but I did say I was going to start from the very beginning and work to that point so the flow isn't so awkward, so here I am! I plan on making this a series so let's hope I can pull through this time!

The run to the mountain is a lot more strenuous than it sounded in theory. You've had to stop and catch your breath multiple times on the way to the base, and upon seeing how steep the trail was, you all but fainted without even stepping foot on the worn dirt path. But you'd stopped for a second, collected yourself, reminded yourself why you were here, and looked back up that trail with determination strong as steel coursing through your veins and replacing your blood- the determination everyone else mistook for stubbornness and cockiness. But you know better than everyone else. They don't know you at all, don't know your body or mind or soul, and that's why- that's why you're here today. Nobody can ever tell you to stop being yourself ever again, because you won't exist for much longer anyway. You hope they throw a party as you embrace oblivion.

 

With your mind once again set on your goal, you ascend the trail. It's harder- _so much harder-_ than your trek on flat ground, but ironically much more manageable. Your heart still pounds in your chest, but it's from exertion rather than fear, and you're chemically calm, almost as if your brain won't allow you to register any emotions whatsoever as you continue up the mountain. You have a purpose, and you will carry out that purpose to your own demise.

 

Literally.

 

It's not until the trail reaches a split about two-thirds up the mountain that you stop and your mind is taken out of auto-pilot mode. You have to weigh your options, now. The path splits around the mountain, going to the left and right around the rocks, and you can't tell where they end up from here, but they both look like they take a different route to the peak. In front of you, the trail stops at the mouth of a dark cave. You can't see what's inside of it, but it looks like a dead end. You process the three paths, trying to figure out the best route to take. After thinking for a moment, you become _very_ aware of the soreness of your limbs, and how your legs are aching so badly they're almost numb. Since it's getting pretty dark out anyway, you figure stopping to rest in the cave up ahead for a little while would be your safest bet for now, and in the morning you can decide which route to take to the top.

 

The cave isn't so dark once you're actually inside of it, and it's not nearly as empty as you'd thought. There's vines all over the inside walls and the floor, and you have to be careful not to trip. At the back of the cave, you see a gaping hole in the floor, and all the vines seem to be seeping out from there. Thinking that that's pretty weird, you step forward over the thick vines criss-crossing the floor to get a closer look. Carefully leaning over the edge a safe distance away from the hole, you can't make anything out. It goes so far down you can't see the bottom even with the light filtering into the cave from outside, and the childish thought that it must go to the core of the Earth crosses you mind. And then you mentally slap yourself because that's impossible, idiot. You take a step or two forward to try and get a closer look, and as you get right up close to the edge, your foot catches on something, and time seems to slow as your body lurches forward towards the abyss below. You reach out your hands to try and balance yourself, but that only works to throw your weight forward towards the hole, and your awareness of the world heightens to what should be humanly impossible as you feel, hear, see, smell, and even _taste_ yourself fall forward into the cavern and almost gently _float_ down into the abyss below. It's kind of peaceful, how you're just descending into the unknown with no concept of time or space, and you close your eyes for a moment to savor the feeling of flying. And then you open them again and your mind has caught up to what's happening and paralyzing fear grips you, and suddenly time is back to normal for a second and then it starts to move too quickly and you're screaming at the top of your lungs, trying to push yourself against the air back up to the top but it's not working, and the ground is rushing towards you at impossible speeds and you know this is it, this is the end, and you're terrified.

 

Your last thought before you hit the ground is, _I don't want to die._

 


	2. Holy Wow There's Goats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You make friends with a goat kid and have some pie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wowie Zowie sorry this took 89 bazillion years to put up, I said it was in the works last chapter and then proceeded to take months to finish it! Sorry, work, executive dysfunction, and writer's block are absolutely killing my creativity! I'll try to get chap 3 out within the next millenium but I guess we'll have to see.

You come to consciousness slowly and painfully, the confusion that normally follows being knocked unconscious swimming around your mind. What happened? Where are you? What were you doing last night? You can't remember anything from before you woke up.

 

You open your eyes and are infinitely more confused when you are face-to-dirt with the ground. Blinking once, twice, you feel for your arms- where are they? When you've located your arms and have (painfully) flexed your hands a couple times, you move them and try to push yourself up, only to be met with the worst pain you've ever felt shooting up your left arm and you fall the the ground again with a thud and a pained cry. You struggle to turn your face to the right, your long brown bangs matted with something dark and sticky blocking your vision. Moving your mostly-uninjured right arm to your face, you brush your dirty hair away from your eyes and feel something warm, wet, and gross on your forehead, pulling your hand away you find your fingers covered in blood. You groan and move your hand back to the ground, studying the circle of columns around you. Very white. Many pillars. Wow. Such architecture.

 

Wait. _Architecture?_

 

Architecture means civilization. Civilization means people. People means help. There's got to be somebody here. You aren't going to die here alone and broken.

 

You cough, trying to get your hoarse voice to work properly, and call out as loudly as you can, “Is anybody there?”

 

Silence.

 

“Someone, help!”

 

Nothing.

 

“ _Please?”_

 

…..

 

But nobody came.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“ _...came from over here...”_

 

Wait. That's the sound of a voice.

 

“Hello....?” you call out again. Footsteps come up from behind you, quick and unsteady, they're running.

 

“Oh! You've fallen down, haven't you?” It's a slightly squeaky, light voice that reminds you of bells, and sounds like its owner is around your age, maybe a little older. Whoever it is kneels down on your left side, and you can't see what they look like. “Hold on, I can help you....” Suddenly, you're surrounded by a glowing white light and the most wonderful feeling of warmth and comfort engulfs your body, sucking all the pain out of you like some sort of magical vacuum. After a few moments, the light goes out and the feeling leaves you, and you're still kind of sore, but you don't feel like you just got run over by an eighteen wheeler anymore. That's... weird. What was that? Growing more confused by the second, you try to push yourself up again and find that your left arm is completely healed and you can put your weight on it easily. You come up on your knees and swivel your head to look at whoever saved you, but your vision starts to swim and dizziness engulfs you as the person helps you up to your feet, wrapping your arm around their shoulders and supporting your weight with their other arm around your waist. They're saying something, and you try to refocus.

 

“...should be Home soon. ...Do you have a name?” You blink, trying to scramble at anything you can remember. Your whole life seems to be just a huge blur. What was your name, again....? You really can't remember, this is kind of embarra--

 

“Chara,” you choke out after a moment without realizing it. Oh. That sounds about right, you guess.

 

“Chara? That's a nice name,” says your rescuer. “My name is Asriel. It's nice to meet you.”

 

“You too,” you say, finally lifting your head to flash Asriel a smile, and your expression freezes halfway through the motion as you get a good look at them.

 

What you see before you has to be the stuff of a fever dream- it's a goat, a fucking bipedal _goat,_ with tiny nub horns and everything, a little taller than you and currently staring down at you with what you think is a kind smile on its snout. Okay, you have _got_ to be dead, and this is Hell. Seeing your fearful expression, Asriel's face twists in concern. You think, anyway, it's hard to tell with goat faces.

 

“Is something wrong, Chara?” it-- they-- he?? says, worried.

 

You can't answer, because now you're passing out for the second time within a few hours.

 

Before you black out completely, confused and scared bleats from Asriel fill your hearing.

 

 

As you come to slowly, you are once again extremely confused, but even more so, because this is definitely _not_ where you passed out. It's pretty dark so you can't see that well at first, but your eyes adjust eventually, and you can make out what looks like a bedroom. A kid's bedroom, it looks like, judging from the toys strewn across the floor and the subpar drawings covering the walls. You take a closer look at one of the drawings, and it seems to be some giant bipedal goat (like Asriel???) with giant horns and black stripes running down its cheeks. It's wearing some sort of purple robe, and there's a bunch of rainbows and stars all around it. There's writing on it, but it's in a script you can't read. The room itself seems to be pretty standard for a child's bedroom, you guess. You turn to the other side to be met with the most terrifying abomination of a stuffed animal in existence. It's like... completely white with a weird, round head, soulless, beady black eyes, and the biggest nose you've ever seen on a stuffed animal. Trying to tear your eyes away from it, you find a brown one right next to it. By now you're thoroughly creeped out by these nightmare dolls, and you turn back to face the rest of the room, burying your head under the blanket and trying to forget what you just saw. You stay like this until you hear the door open, and you peek out from under the covers to see Asriel coming into the bedroom, carrying a slice of some kind of pie in his.... hands? Paws? Paws. He's carrying it in his paws. Wait, do goats have paws? You thought they had hooves. …..You're going to just completely disregard anatomy here because Asriel clearly doesn't fit the bill of what a normal goat would be anyway, what with talking and walking on two legs! His apparent lack of hooves should be the least of your worries right now.

 

Anyway. Asriel comes into the room carrying a slice of pie in his non-hooved paws. He looks like he's about to set it down on the ground, when he looks over at the bed and spots you watching him from your blanket cocoon. He seems thoroughly startled at your awakeness, and gives a surprised little bleat, but comes over to the bed, and you shove off the covers to sit up, still wary of him but by now at least kind of used to his weirdness.

 

“Oh, Chara! You're awake,” he says, sitting down next to you and all but shoving the plate of pie into your hands. “Here. Mom made some pie and said I should give you a piece, too.”

 

You accept the pie and pick up the fork next to it, poking the thing a little bit with your eating utensil. “What kind is it?” you ask, trying not to let fearful suspicion creep into your mind. It's not human pie, is it? Did Asriel's probably-goat mom make human pie and try to feed it to you to fatten you up so she can make you into a pie, too? Wait. Goats don't eat humans, that's ridiculous. Right?

 

“Butterscotch-cinnamon. It's her specialty,” Asriel answers, and your internalized fear of being the next victim of some sort of twisted Hansel-and-Gretel type tale is completely forgotten as you perk up at the word “cinnamon.” You love cinnamon! You love it almost as much as you love chocolate! And, well, butterscotch is great, too, you guess. You dig the fork into the pie without further hesitation, and shovel that big ol' bite into your big ol' mouth. It's... Oh. Oh lord have mercy on your soul.

 

“Mmmmmohmy _god,”_ you moan as the pie hits your tastebuds, not bothering to chew but twice before you swallow, and shove another bite of the heavenly food into your mouth. And then another. And then another. You're eating this pie like you haven't eaten anything in days- which, well, is pretty true but that's beside the point. After you've eaten nearly two-thirds of the slice, you swallow and turn to Asriel in barely contained glee. “This is the _best_ pie I've ever tasted!”

 

“I know, right!” Asriel agrees, giggling at your reaction. “I told you it was her specialty!”

 

It takes you less than three minutes to scarf down the rest of the pie, and you have to restrain yourself from licking the plate once it's gone. Not knowing where to put it, you just rest the plate in your lap and turn back to Asriel, not quite sure what to say.

 

“Sooo,” you say awkwardly.

 

“So,” he replies.

 

“Is this your room?” you ask him.

 

“Yeah...?”

 

“Your drawings are dorky,” you say matter-of-factly.

 

“ _What!!”_ Asriel bleats. “No they're not! They're of my OC, the _Absolute God of Hyperdeath!”_

 

“Sounds pretty dorky to me,” is your witty response, and Asriel keeps trying to fervently convince you that _no,_ they're _awesome,_ and the ABSOLUTE GOD OF HYPERDEATH is the _best_ monster out there, in _existence._ That he could beat an army of a thousand humans _with a single punch._ You just supply occasional responses of “No way!” and “Uh huh, sure,” until Asriel's mom (a _suuuuuper tall_ goat woman with _actual horns!!!_ ) comes in to check on you and figure out what all the ruckus is about, and then tells the two of you it's time for bed. Asriel pouts, but he lets his mom set up an air mattress on the floor for him to sleep on so you can sleep on his bed, which you think is really sweet of him. After Goat Mom turns off the light, tells you both sternly (but affectionately) to go to sleep, and closes the door, you and Asriel start stage-whispering to each other for _hours and hours and hours_ about the Absolute God of Hyperdeath's adventures, and his sidekick, your new OC, aptly dubbed “the Absolute Sidekick of Hyperdeath” until you both conk out. For once in your short life, you sleep soundly.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaa again it's really really short sorry!!


	3. Home is Where the Heart Is

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toriel and Asgore give Chara some completely surprising news. Totally an unexpected turn of events in this story.

You wake from your slumber when Asriel shakes you awake the next morning, telling you that it's breakfast time. You begrudgingly disentangle yourself from his bed and follow, rubbing the sleep from your eyes. You come into a rather cozy-looking living-room/dining-room setup, and Asriel leads you over to the dining table, where a _holy hecking wow giant goat man_ is sitting, smiling gently at the head (the largest chair, you note) with a cup of tea in his platter-sized paws.

“Oh, good morning children. You must be Asriel's new friend, Chara,” he adds to you, giving you a Fatherly Smile. You nod, unsure what to say. “I am Asgore, Asriel's father. I'm sure you've already met my wife, Toriel. It's nice to meet you, young one.”

You nod again, and then choke out a quiet, slightly nervous, “Nice to meet you too.” Asriel leads you to sit down next to him at the table, with himself closer to his dad and you closer to the empty chair at the other end of the table. That must be where Asriel's mom sits.

Sure enough, a few moments later, Mrs. Toriel comes out of the kitchen with a plate stacked high with... _oh my god are those pancakes._ You smell chocolate in them, and you feel your mouth begin to water like some kind of dog. She comes over to the table and sets the plate down in the center, and smiles at you and Asriel with a sweet, “Good morning, children,” before returning to the kitchen shortly only to return with a stack of glasses in one hand and a carton of milk in the other. She sets a glass next to each plate setup and pours milk in the glasses before sitting down at her end of the table, across from Mr. Asgore.

“Well, dig in,” she announces with finality, and suddenly everyone is reaching for pancakes. You're about to ask if it's okay if you have some before a whole whopping _three_ land on the plate right in front of you. Asriel grins at your surprise, now reaching for pancakes to put on his own plate.

The first few minutes of breakfast pass in silence as everyone digs into their absolutely _delicious_ pancakes, until Mrs. Toriel turns to look at you, a smile on her face.

“Chara, dear, there is something we would like to talk about with you.” You look up at her, swallowing your mouthful of heavensent breakfast.

“Uh... Y-yes, Mrs. Toriel?” you answer nervously. Oh no, are they mad at you for imposing on their home? You didn't mean to! Asriel brought you here! You're thinking up possible excuses and are considering resorting to begging when she speaks again.

“First and foremost, I must tell you that you will not be able to return home to the Surface.” Her tone is careful, gentle, as if she doesn't want to hurt you by this revelation. You, not caring a single bit about your home, just stare at her blankly.

“Oh...?” But then, the thought hits you. _Why can't you go back? Where will you go now?_ Surely they wouldn't just toss you out on the street, right? If they did, a little voice in the back of your head tells you, it wouldn't be the first time you'd misjudged a family. Toriel seems to read your mind, though, and continues.

“So, that is why... Asgore and I were discussing this problem last night, and we decided that it would be for the best if you were to stay here with us, in the Underground. I know, this may not sound promising, and I understand if you would wish to leave, but--” she stops abruptly, seeing the happy tears springing from your maroon eyes and threatening to spill over onto your cheeks. Vaguely, you feel Asriel's paw touching your shoulder to try and comfort you. Toriel seems to take your reaction as you being upset. “-Oh, Chara, I am so sorry, child. I promise we will do everything we can to give you a happy life here--” You just have to interrupt her.

“A-are you...” You begin, voice raw with emotion. “Are you saying you're adopting me?”

Toriel seems to be taken off-guard by your sudden question, and replies, “Yes, dear, that is exactly what I'm saying. Are you alright with this?”

You nod vigorously, not bothering to wipe away the tears as you spring up from your seat and launch yourself at Toriel, sobbing joy into her shoulder as she wraps her big fuzzy arms around you. “Th-thank you so much,” you say as she pets your hair with her paw. After a moment, you calm down, and she lets you move away and run to Asgore, giving him a big hug, too. His humongous form envelops you in a hug, and you're drowning in fur. He sets you back down in your seat when you're done, and the four of you finish your breakfast happily.

\----

Later that day, you're sitting under the tree in the front yard, crinkling the fallen leaves under your hands. You stare up at the barren branches, lost in thought. You never expected to survive the fall when you jumped into that hole, but you did, and you got a whole new family out of it.

That thought sticks with you for the rest of the day.

You have a family now.

A family that loves you.

When you step up to the door to go back inside, you look around at the world surrounding you, so different from the world you left, but so, so wonderful. You think about the life you'll have down here, with friends and a family to call your own.

It fills you with **determination**.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohhh my god I'm so sorry I didn't mean to abandon this fic. Writer's block is one hell of an obstacle. Please enjoy this very short and terrible chapter that for once *doesn't* end with Chara falling asleep.


	4. Of Missed Birthdays and Sad Goats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A totally unnecessary filler chapter that I just wanted to write because I felt like it.

“Hey, Chara?” Asriel asks you a few days later, as you're both hanging out on the balcony overlooking the rest of Home.

 

“Yeah?” you reply, staring down at the city below.

 

“How old are you?” he says.

 

“Uh...” You have to think about this for a second. You kind of forgot... Oh, that's right! “Eleven.”

 

“Cool!” Asriel says. “I'm twelve. So that means I'm your _older_ brother!” He looks so proud of himself, you don't want to ruin his excitement. You just laugh softly.

 

“Yeah, I guess you are.” You're silent for a moment, before you have a question to ask him. “When's your birthday, Asriel?”

 

“June eighth, when's yours?”

 

“Twentieth of January,” you say.

 

“Oh! So you just had it last week, huh?” Asriel turns to look at you, giving you a wide smile. “Happy late birthday!”

 

You give him a noncommittal shrug. “I don't really celebrate it, but thanks.” Asriel bleats in surprise at your apathy.

 

“ _What?_ You don't _celebrate your birthday?_ That's like, the worst crime ever!” He's so shocked about this completely unsurprising fact, and you don't know what to say. You just shrug again. “We have to fix this now!” He grabs your hand and stands up, pulling you up with him.

 

“What?” you shout in confusion. “Where are we going?”

 

“Home,” Asriel answers you without looking back, just pulling you along the path back to your house. “We're gonna throw you the _best_ birthday party _ever!_ To make up for all eleven that you missed!!”

 

“What?” you say again. “Asriel, that's dumb! I don't care, it's fine!”  
  
“ _I_ care!” Asriel yells with all the fierceness of a butterfly. “It's not fair that you didn't get to celebrate your birthday when everyone else does!”

 

Before you can respond, you've reached your house and Asriel throws it open like some sort of cheesy action hero, dragging you inside with him. “Mom! Dad!” he shouts dramatically. “Chara had their birthday last week and they didn't celebrate! We have to throw them a party now!”

 

“Asriel, no, I said it's fine!” you start, but then you see both your new adopted parents sitting in their recliners in the living room, having abandoned their previous activities at Asriel's outburst. They're now staring at the both of you with a bit of humor in their eyes at your brother's antics.

 

“Yes, I can see that this is of the utmost importance,” Dad says, smiling with silent laughter. “But, does Chara _want_ a birthday party, son? They don't seem very enthusiastic about it.”

You give your father a grateful and relieved smile. At least he understands. Mom speaks up, too, “That's right, we should not force them to have a party if they do not want to.” Then, she turns to you. “ _Do_ you want a party, Chara?”

 

“N-Not really,” you say, hoping that's an okay answer. Mom smiles and nods at you.   
  
“Alright, then we will not throw you one. However, I could still make you a birthday cake for dessert after dinner tonight, if you would like one.”

 

“Um, actually,” you begin, “that sounds great, thank you!” You can't turn down cake. _Especially_ chocolate cake. You don't know if that's what Mom's going to make, but you're crossing your fingers that it is.

 

“Then I will make one tonight,” she says. “Is chocolate alright?” Judging by your very enthusiastic nodding and inability to form coherent words, she seems to take that as a _yes, definitely, come into my mouth right now chocolate._ You're glad you could get your point across.

 

After that, you grab Asriel's hand and bring him back to your room to play pirates, but he looks pretty bummed out about something. He's not really paying attention to the game, and you're able to knock him out of his ship (AKA, his bed) with ease. He goes down without so much as a peep, and lays down on the ground with a deep sigh.

 

“Hey, what's wrong?” you say, crouching down next to him. He doesn't answer you, so you redouble your efforts, waving your hand in front of his face. “Helloooo?? Earth to Asriel, crash landing coming up!” You poke his cheek, and he startles out of his daze with a tiny shout. He sits up, rubbing his cheek.

 

“Hey! What was that for?” He's giving you his best attempt at a stink-eye, but you can tell his heart's not in it.

 

“He lives!” you exclaim, giving him a big tackle-hug, sending you both into a horizontal position on the floor.

 

“Ack! Chara, stop it! What are you doing?” He's laughing, so you know he's not really mad. You just flop down over him, preventing him from getting up.

 

“You were all sad and zoned out so I had to bring you back from space,” you say.

 

“Well, I'm back now, so you can get up.” He flails his legs underneath you to try and get his point across.

 

“No, not yet!” you say. “I still have one more question to ask the contestant. It's the Million Dollar Question.”

 

“Oh, so it's a game-show now?” He sighs. “What is it?”

 

“What's wrong?” you ask, getting up off him to look at him. “You were really sad after we got done talking to Mom and Dad.”

 

“Oh, that. It's just...” he pauses for a second. “I was really looking forward to throwing you a birthday party, like _really_ looking forward to it. I wanted to do it to make you happy! But you didn't want it, and it made me kind of sad...”

 

Every word makes your heart feel just a little heavier with guilt. He really wanted it that bad, just to make you happy? You feel really bad now, you don't really like parties but you would've done it if you'd known how happy it would've made him. You're just selfish, aren't you? You resist the urge to bite your arm or punch yourself, and instead put your hand on his back, rubbing it a little bit.

 

“Oh, Asriel... I'm sorry. I didn't wanna hurt you, I just don't really like parties that much. Especially so suddenly like that. But... maybe you can throw one for me next year, okay?”

 

Asriel perks up at that. “Really? We can do that?”

 

“Yeah!” you reply, smiling at him. “As long as you give me at least a week's warning to prepare.”

 

“Okay,” Asriel says. “It's a deal!”

 

 

You really enjoy your chocolate cake that night.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I did just upload two chapters in one day within two hours of each other. I had a lot of time to kill in my first class today, and it's making up for not uploading for months. I did say I have a very sporadic updating schedule. Just odn't mind the awkward spacing this time, I don't have time to fix it right now.


End file.
